Syracuse puts on a show at Thursday's practice

Gloria Wright / The Post-StandardJames Southerland goes up for a dunk during Syracuse's practice Thursday for the first round of the NCAA tournament in Buffalo.

Buffalo -- All of the teams playing in Buffalo this weekend held open practices at the HSBC Arena on Thursday.

View full sizeDennis Nett / The Post-StandardSyracuse's James Southerland goes in for a dunk at the end of practice. The team is in Buffalo for the first round of the NCAA Tournament where they will play Vermont. Syracuse’s practice session, of course, drew the most fans. Near the end of their light 50-minute workout, the Syracuse players treated the fans to some hijinks and some high dunks.

At first, some of the SU players got into a contest to see who could hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with their non-shooting hand.

Nick Resavy, a sophomore walk-on, was the first to connect. The crowd then started chanting Gerry McNamara's name. The former Orange star is now a graduate assistant.

McNamara stepped up to the 3-point line and drilled his first left-handed shot. The crowd erupted with cheers.

A few minutes later, the Orange players broke into layups lines and showed off with a series of high-flying dunks. Wes Johnson, Brandon Triche, DaShonte Riley and Andy Rautins all threw down dunks.

But the most amazing slam came from freshman James Southerland. McNamara tossed a low lob, which Southerland grabbed, passed the ball through his legs and then rammed through the rim.